Volunteer Spotlight - NCRA/NCRF (August 2006)

View additional Volunteer Spotlights“We all know how busy life gets. Where do we find the
time to do volunteer work? It usually has to happen with the
assistance of others. With support from my family and my boss,
I was given the opportunity and the honor to transcribe stories
from the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. These
stories are snapshots of individual veteran’s personal
experiences, and court reporters across the nation are transcribing
them in an effort to preserve and share the history of our country.
I hope fellow court reporters will participate in this new initiative
to record the stories of veterans in their lives and then transcribe
them. Be a part of our country’s history, and in doing
so create a history for our organization.”

-- Denise Fritz, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Court Reporters and VHP: A Unique Partnership

The
National Court Reporters Foundation (NCRF) and members of
the National
Court Reporters Association (NCRA) are transcribing the recorded
interviews from the Library of Congress Veterans History Project
(VHP), ensuring the stories of our nation's veterans are preserved
in yet another format--the written word. “Court reporters
are simply fulfilling their stated vision, which is, in part,
'to afford society total access to the spoken word,'" commented
B.J. Shorak, deputy executive director of NCRF.

"Transcripts
allow us to offer the one-of-a-kind stories from the VHP collection
to more and more people,” said Bob Patrick, director of VHP."
Each transcript provided by NCRF/NCRA is digitized and available
via
the VHP
Web site,” he continued.

Shorak said, “Tawni Kind is the visionary court reporter,
and wife of Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), who created the relationship
between NCRF/NCRA and VHP. Our professional association and foundation
feel it is important to support public service programs, so we
eagerly partnered with the Library of Congress when Ms. Kind presented
a plan to transcribe the personal recollections of veterans housed
in the VHP collections.” NCRA members contribute to this
project as they earn continuing education credits toward their
professional court reporter certification.

"The
highlights for me have been the opportunities for NCRA members
to attend VHP-related events and transcribe stories on
the spot. Our members tend to be civic-minded, so this has been
a welcome opportunity for them to serve their community,” added
Beth Kilker, NCRF’s VHP coordinator.

Earlier this year, NCRF/NCRA began an initiative to complete
1,000 transcribed VHP interviews by Veterans’ Day 2006. “The
court reporters are close to reaching that goal,” offers
Patrick. “We are indebted to NCRF/NCRA for helping VHP ensure
the personal stories of these national heroes are preserved in
written format for current and future generations.”

What’s next for NCRF/NCRA? “We’re excited to
announce a new initiative for court reporters to record AND
transcribe the interviews of veterans in their own lives—family
members, neighbors, and colleagues. Our members came up with the
idea, and we support them in every endeavor,” smiled Shorak.